Re-Cap of Verbal II

Hey everyone,

Congratulations on being done with half of the MCAT class!  Please be on the lookout for a survey arriving in the next week or two from Kaplan, asking you to rate me and the Kaplan program in general.  PLEASE fill this out -- it's one of the best ways I can get feedback from you all, and it's completely anonymous.  You'll also note that there's a space for comments; these are often even more helpful to me than the categorical ratings.  And again, it's anonymous.  The only information I will see besides the ratings and comments is our class code (MCHV10702).

Your Required Homework before Organic Chemistry II is as follows:

• Organic Chemistry Review Notes Chapters 6-10 & 13 (Aromatic Compounds, Alcohols & Ethers, Aldehydes & Ketones, Carboxylic Acids, Carboxylic Acid Derivatives, Spectroscopy)
• Addition & Elimination Online Workshop & Quiz
• Spectroscopy Online Workshop & Quiz
• Comments: The spectroscopy workshop is the best and most useful organic chemistry workshop we have, so please make sure to complete that one before our class.  The assigned reading in the Review Notes covers a tremendous amount of material, but in your first read through just keep an eye on understanding the primary general mechanism of carbonyl reactivity.  That is what we will emphasize in class for that is the emphasis on the MCAT.

To reinforce what we have covered in Verbal Reasoning II, complete the following:

• Take Test 2 in Verbal Reasoning Strategy & Practice Book
• Argument Dissection Basics Workshop & Quiz
• Writing Sample:  Advanced Workshop
• Revisit the email I sent out after Verbal Reasoning I for a refresher on the Verbal Reasoning strategies and my comments on the Writing Sample section.

Helpful Hints:

• Even as you are practicing STPM, don’t let up on your mapping.  By now, you should be fairly comfortable with the strategy, but if you are not, be sure to map every passage in the Verbal Reasoning Section Tests assigned until it starts to feel natural.  Don’t give in to the temptation to allow highlighting on the computer screen to take the place of mapping.  It is a poor substitute.  Rather, use highlighting sparingly for numbers, names, technical terms or definitions.
• Now that you’ve learned about the different question types that will appear in the Verbal Reasoning section on Test Day, practice recognizing them by identifying each question that you practice.  Pay attention to the words and phrases that clue you in to the question type.
• Understanding argumentation is very important for success in the VR section.  Evidence and conclusions will be stated directly in the passage.  Assumptions and inferences will not.  Remember that an assumption is the unstated piece of an argument that links the evidence to the conclusion; inferences are unstated conclusions.  On the MCAT, the only correct inference is the one that MUST be true, not simply MIGHT be true.  Remember this equation:  E (+ A) = C (+ I).

See you next time!